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Saturday, 23 July 2016

Review: 200 Cupcakes: Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook - Joanna Farrow

Cupcakes are a delectably indulgent treat - and so quick and easy to make! From colourful cakes to keep the kids entertained to sophisticated recipes for special occasions - Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook: 200 Cupcakes has something for everyone. Why not treat yourself to some gorgeous mocha cupcakes or delight a friend on their birthday with some maple, pecan and white chocolate muffins? Each recipe is accompanied by easy-to-follow instructions and a full page colour photograph to ensure perfect results every time.

Review:
This is a fab cupcake recipe book that is great value for money when you consider how many recipes it contains. The book starts with an introduction that contains information about the kind of tools you'll need and some basic baking tips which I'm sure most amature bakers will find useful to read through before getting started.

The recipes are then split into different sections and I'll give you a brief overview of each section so you'll have a better idea of what's included:

1. Everyday cupcakes - This section contains basic recipes for everything from vanilla to various kinds of fruit and nut, citrus flavours, coffee cupcakes, carrot cupcakes, gingerbread and even marshmallow. There are cupcakes here to suit every taste bud and although I've only tried one of the recipes so far (the Very Cherry cupcakes which tasted delicious even though I had a bit of an icing disaster!) I can't wait to test the rest. I particularly love the sound of the Poppy Seed and Lemon, Iced Gingerbread and Warm Pecan Caramel cupcakes!

Very Cherry Cupcakes

(I made the icing a little too runny so it didn't cover the cherry

jam like it was supposed to but they still tasted great!)

2. Chocolate cupcakes - This section is a chocoholic's dream: Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Cheesecake, Chocolate Orange, Minted White Chocolate, Chocolate Strawberry, Chocolate Brownies and Mocha are just a few of the different flavours you'll find in there. Again I can't wait to get baking!

3. Cupcakes for kids - A lot of the cupcakes in this section use the vanilla cupcake recipe for the actual cake and focus more on different creative ways to ice them using both buttercream and icing along with different fruits or sweets. These are the kind of ideas that you can use to have fun decorating with fairly young children and still come up with pretty looking cakes that the whole family will enjoy eating.

4. Cupcakes for adults - Slightly more sophisticated than the previous section but if you like the sound of Almond Praline, Strawberry Marguerita, Pistachio, Red Velvet, Coffee and Walnut or Lemon Meringue then you'll have plenty to choose from here.

5. Savoury cupcakes - This is the most interesting section and one I'm looking forward to trying out. When I think of cupcakes I automatically think of something sweet with lashings of buttercream icing but this opens up a whole new savoury world. With recipes like Corn Chill and Bacon, Goats' Cheese and Tomato, Smoked Salmon or Spicy Cheese and Parsnip I'm having trouble deciding where to start!

Each recipe in the book comes with clear and easy to follow instructions, a large colour picture of the finished cake and plenty of tips to help you achieve great results. I can't wait to try out more of the recipes and I'll update this review as I do.

Source: Received from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here